


Myriad

by skywriter45



Category: Smosh
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:15:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28564134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skywriter45/pseuds/skywriter45
Summary: Shayne's first tattoo? EasyNot falling in love with the man doing the tattooing? Way, way harderORA tattoo shop Smosh AU in which Damien is an alt tattooed king and Shayne is a useless disaster bisexual. Fluff ensues.
Relationships: Damien Haas/Shayne Topp
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Myriad

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably be working on my two other monster WIPs, but my ADHD brain said "shaymien tattoo shop au" and honestly? It's right.  
> I also know nothing about tattoo shops or the general world around tattooing, but I've watched every episode of Ink Master in the past day so I feel confident enough to not fuck it up too bad.  
> As usual, heavy swearing, so if that's not your thing, that's fine, but this might not be the piece for you!

Why did Shayne decide to do this, again? 

Oh yeah. Because he's an idiot. 

He stands outside of "Ink Outside the Box," a tattoos shop that, to passerby would look kitschy, but to Shayne looks like the gates to hell. It's got flowing pink curtains over flower boxes filled with hydrangeas in all different colors. The windows are open, and Shayne can hear the faint buzzing of the machines as they plod along, creating permanent marks on clean skin. Shayne checks his phone and sees the time, five to three. Might as well go in. It never pays to be late, and you really don't want to piss of someone who'll be marking you for life. 

Oh fuck, he's about to be marked for life. 

Half of him wants to get back into his car and drive away, pretend this never happened, but the other half of him is stronger. He _wants_ this. He's wanted this for years. Hell, if he wasn't so damn scared of needles, he'd probably be covered in the damn things!

The other potential issue is with the exact design and colors he wants. Listen, Shayne doesn't really know what to expect in there. Tattoos are typically associated with the hardcore. Bikers, heavy metal artists, fuckin' skinheads. And a lot of the hardcore tends to be associated with...well, homophobia. Maybe that's an unfair generalization drilled into his head by years of anti-subculture propaganda and heavy cultural conservatism. Whatever it is, it doesn't change the fact that Shayne would prefer not to be hate crimed on such a beautiful day (or any day, really.) But a place like this? With pink checkered curtains and a chalk sign out front in script saying "Come on in!"? Surely it can't go that badly. 

Shayne takes a breath and pushes through the pastel purple door into hell.

**********

The first thing he notices about Ink Outside the Box is the smell of disinfectant, which is always good. Less good is the way it's mixed with what smells like a Bath and Bodyworks Christmas candle (it's July). He's sure it probably doesn't effect he quality of the works, but holy hell if there was ever a scent to give you a migraine...

"Hey!"

Shayne nearly jumps out of his skin. Turning around, he discovers that the voice belongs to a petite blonde woman who is absolutely _tatted the fuck up._ She's got so many designs up and down her arms he can't understand them all, but he makes out a couple of quotes (he can't possibly place them) and an amazing pinup girl who moves every time she flexes her bicep. It's a really cool design, and it eases Shayne's fear a bit to see that she quite appears to know what she's doing. "Hey, yeah. My name is Shayne Topp. I'm here for an appointment." He hopes his voice doesn't sound as weak as it feels. 

The blonde smiles. "Hey, man! I'm Courtney. Welcome in!"

"Thanks." Shayne swallows hard. "Killer pinup."

Courtney beams at the compliment. "Thanks dude! Boze, one of the artists here, did it. It's her speciality." 

"Yeah, I saw that on y'all's website. It's dope as hell. But I think I have an appointment with Damien? Is that correct?" Shayne has no idea what the fuck he's doing. 

Courtney, for her part, doesn't waver in the slightest. "Yeah man! Dames will be out in a second. He's just wrapping up another client." 

Wrapping up like finishing, or like actually wrapping up? Don't you have to get plastic put over the tattoo to protect it for a bit? God, Shayne really should have done more research. 

He gets his answer when a guy with fiery orange hair walks out from behind a Japanese screen divider with a massive thing of what looks like cling wrap on his shoulder. He moves with the confidence to suggest this probably isn't his first rodeo, which makes Shayne intensely jealous. 

Following him is another man. And...fuck, this just got so much harder. 

The other man, who Shayne assumes is Damien, has long brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail. He's clearly well built, wearing a sleeveless hoodie to show it off, but it also demonstrates his best assets quite nicely. 

Damien is, to put it bluntly, _fucking covered_ in tattoos. Most of them appear to be traditional Japanese style. There's a massive dragon that covers his entire left arm, all reds and golds with incredible line work. The other arm is a water garden studded with incredible lotuses and intensely colored flowers. Shayne can't see most of his chest, but he'd be willing to bet that there's a massive piece happening there as well. This guy has a literal work of art as a body. Shayne might faint. 

And then he spots it. A nicely sized tattoo of a rainbow flag placed right below the collarbone. 

Oh yeah. This just got simultaneously so much better and so much worse.

***********************

"So man, what were you thinking for your tat?"

Oh shit, here it is. The million dollar question. Might as well take the plunge. "I was thinking about a first quarter moon that fades from, like, pink at the top to blue at the bottom, with some purple in there." 

Damien pauses with the pen and paper in his hands. "Kinda like a bi flag."

_Bingo._ "Yeah. Kinda exactly like a bi flag." 

More awkward silence. Damien coughs. "Yeah. Great. We can do that." He begins sketching his idea on the pad of paper. 

Shayne silently curses himself. Did he misjudge the situation? Maybe he's just a really active ally. _Nobody gets a fucking rainbow flag permanently tattooed onto their body if they're just an ally._ Before he can stop himself, he blurts out, "Hey, I like all your tattoos." 

Again, Damien pauses, but this time he's smiling. "Thanks, man. I like them too." Another awkward pause. "I mean, I should. I do. Obviously. They're on me permanently." 

Shayne can't help himself. "Are you always this articulate?"

The brunette smirks. "Bold of you so get snarky with the guy who's about to mark you for life." 

Quickly, the other attempts to backtrack, not knowing if he's serious or not. "Ah man, I'm sorry-"

"Dude, relax." Damien cuts him off. "I can take a joke. Looks like you can, too. Actually..." He looks Shayne up and down with an approving glance, and Shayne feels things that shouldn't be allowed in public. "You look like you could take a lot." 

Yeah, Shayne's probably going to pass out the second Damien gets his hands on him.

****************************

It's like a ton of tiny cat scratches across his skin. It's like holding his hand above a candle for an extended amount of time. It's not the worst pain he's ever felt, but it's _long._ It's extended and repeated, and Shayne's realizing how much stamina someone has to have to sit for hours like this. 

How much stamina Damien must have in order to endure all those tattoos. 

_Not the time._

Still, he's acutely aware of everywhere Damien is. One hand is pulling the skin on his arm tight. The other mans the machine, and how did Shayne not notice that his nails are painted with a glossy black polish? Damien's hair is falling in his face and his eyes are focused on his work, occasionally looking up at Shayne to make sure he's doing well. Shayne, for his part, swallows hard, looks away, and hopes any reactions he may be having are attributed to the natural workings of the body. 

Ink Outside the Box is a pretty cute place. The candle has long since burned out, leaving only the scent of disinfectant and an occasional whiff of gingerbread. There's some kind of folksy alt music playing in the background, although he can't make out any of lyrics. It's the kind of place where you could hang out, watch people work. Crash after a day at work, maybe kiss a certain someone...

_Jesus, get it together. It's been an hour and already you're picturing a future with this guy._

"So," Damien cuts off his dream. "Why this particular tattoo? I tend to notice that newbies get something really important to them first."

Shayne smiles a bit. "This was the phase the moon was in the day I first came out to my family. It was the first time I had ever said out loud that I was bisexual. It's not really a pleasant story, but it's still really important to me." 

Damien nods. "I get it, man. This was my first." He points at the rainbow flag on his collarbone. "I had just turned eighteen. I was an apprentice. Just came out to my fam. They were...not ideal about it. Had to get the fuck out of that house and needed a source of income, and...I had always been a decent artist."

"I think you're way more than a decent artist." Dammit, Shayne really can't control his words around this guy. "You're really good."

Damien offers him a soft smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it more than you know."

For some reason, Shayne feels the need to tell him more, to have this mysterious man know all about him. "I was sixteen. My folks...they weren't bad about it. They weren't good, either. It was kind of a don't ask, don't tell situation. It was okay, but..."

The brunette nods like he understands, and hell, he probably does. "You needed more." 

"Yes. Exactly. Room to grow and learn about myself, right?" 

"Exactly. We all need that sometimes."

The tension has grown high by this point, but it's not uncomfortable. It's like looking at a cloudy sky and waiting for the storm to break. With the gentle, numbing hum of the tattoo machines in the background and the leather chair beneath his body, Shayne could almost fall asleep like this. 

"Yo! New guy! You alive?" A pair of black stiletto nails snap in front of his face. They belong to a petite woman dressed in all black leather, with fantastic black and grey works across her body. They appear to be almost all horror themed, and Shayne's pretty sure she's got a few pictures from Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark on her. 

"Fuck off, Boze, he's fine." Damien tries to wave her off. It's about as effective as one might expect. Instead, Boze decides to get up close and personal with Shayne's new artwork. "Oh, wow. That's really well done, Dames. The shading and gradient work are dope as fuck. Is that, uh, the bi flag?" 

Shayne smiles. He likes this girl instantly. "Yeah, it is."

"Dope. I have one as well." Boze shrugs off her leather vest to reveal a gorgeous sea of oranges and pinks on her left shoulder blade. "Subtle pride like that is awesome, dude."

" _Boze._ " Damien is a bit more firm this time. The two look at each other, and a recognition seems to pass between them. Boze glances at her friend, and then at Shayne, and her eyes widen at the unspoken message Dames just sent her. Oh, okay. She'll, uh, leave them alone then. Just the two of them. And then throughly disinfect the chair when they're gone. 

************************

The final product is, as expected, amazing. The shading and gradient are, in fact, dope as fuck, and it has clear line work with no visible issues. Damien is a perfectionist, and it shows. 

Most importantly, Shayne loves it. It's everything he wanted and more, with all the meaning imbued into it he hoped for. This was worth all the pain, to have something beautiful and meaningful on his skin permanently like this. 

However, it means he also has to leave Damien and the kitschy little tattoo parlor behind. Wrapped in plastic wrap and armed with proper care instructions (and a loving threat from Boze to hunt him down if all instructions aren't followed to the letter), he goes to the front to pay Courtney and trusts that it'll be put in the correct hands. Court's smile is even bigger on the way out and she claps him on the shoulder. In exchange for his money, he gets the satisfaction of a new piece of art, and a tiny slip of paper that Court hands him with no other explanation than "It's from Damien."

The outside world has dropped significantly in temperature, and Shayne wants to pull on his jacket, but he's afraid of ruining all of the day's hard work.It feels like a betrayal of the work, and of the man responsible for it to cover up such a beautiful thing. Absently, he wonders if Damien would want to go to dinner sometime. Normally he would never want to hassle someone at their place of work, but he couldn't have been wrong about their connection, right? 

It isn't until he's at home with a cup of tea that he thinks to check the piece of paper that Courtney was apparently told to pass on. 

_Hey Shayne,_

_I don't know if you're single or not, but you're cute and have a great personality, so if you ever wanted to go out sometime, call me._

_Talk to you soon, hopefully._

####  _202-555-0140_

_-Damien Haas_

_*****************************_

Two years later, a pair of men, one heavily tattooed and one not so much, prepare to get the one mark that truly lasts forever if you feed it, nurture it, and take care of it right. 

A wedding ring. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my shameless tattoo shop AU! As usual, comments and kudos keep me sustained as I work on my other projects. Feedback is so important to authors, as I'm sure many of you know! <3  
> And, as I'm sure there will be questions, the title is a pun. They say your first tattoo should be something that means a lot, as it is with our boys here.   
> Myriad.


End file.
